


Follow the Yellow Brick Road

by CheeseCroquette



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Alternate Universe, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-05
Updated: 2018-02-05
Packaged: 2019-03-13 22:33:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,851
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13580325
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CheeseCroquette/pseuds/CheeseCroquette
Summary: AU: Noctis’s body disposition is one that gods and daemons really, really like, and is regularly kidnapped from his world to theirs. This is the first time he’s found himself in a maze though, getting chased by an iron giant through it was the icing on the cake.It’s also the first time he meets another human being on this side of the world.





	Follow the Yellow Brick Road

**Author's Note:**

> This is an AU that’s kind of a blend of Natsume Yuujinchou and xxxHolic (not that I read or watched this) and a bit of a modern parody. The fantasy elements are still there, but the Wall and the war don’t really exist, Noctis isn’t royalty and everything is peaceful. I just wanted to see Noctis stuck in a maze getting chased by something and someone to come get him. That’s it. ~~And now it’s expanding and this is turning out to be a really long prologue or something ~~~~~~
> 
> Part of a possibly bigger verse. This was actually mostly written last year, but since I finished it, I figure I’ll just post. The narrative is all over the place, and the first half is also ridiculously wordy. I can’t get it to work orz I give up. This is it. Been staring at this for too long I need to get it out of my system and I need to hurry and post this before I change my mind. Enjoy!

Running for his life wasn’t new.

Noctis was used to being chased by unfriendly, vicious daemons, wraiths dogging every step he takes, whispering toxic into his ears that he had since long ago learned to ignore— _was_ better off ignoring—and endless walking in a realm he didn’t belong to for what could be hours that felt like days.

Or the other way around. The concept of time here was weird. More often than not, it was usually the former. Finding his way back to his world and learning he had lost at least a day when it couldn’t have been more than three hours on the other side wasn’t new.

Running for his life was almost a weekly affair, something to tick off his checklist at least once every few days.

Okay, so he might be exaggerating a little. But it happened often enough that Gladio and Ignis near hovers over him sometimes. Getting lost occasionally for a few hours in a dimension where gravity is all funky and physics mean nothing does that.

It’s when they manage to pull him out, or he finds the way out himself, that he’s told quite indignantly “a few hours?! You’ve been missing for more than forty-eight!”

Also usually accompanied by a hug or a smack, depending on Gladio’s mood. That’s about when the hunger pangs and dehydration hits, and if they hadn’t came to get him the likelihood of them finding him passed out in some alley was pretty high. He’s not proud of it.

But it’s not all life or death situations. Sometimes it was just ghosts wanting to chat, tiny creatures peeking curiously at him from behind corners, a cat spirit that had taken to following him around, its two tails swaying behind it leisurely. For the most part, the supernatural is surprisingly chill.

Daemons were more malicious, but their appearances were also more rare. When they did though, and they will, it was hit Ignis’s or Gladio’s speed-dial and run straight back to the Amicitia Manor for him.

If he were lucky, he’d get away with a fortnight of peace before the next pile of shit hits the fan. If he were _really_ lucky, those two weeks wouldn’t turn out to be the typical calm before a storm, and everything would be concluded in time for dinner.

Mostly though, it’s situations like these, minus the murderous monster. Being brought to the other world without so much as a by your leave and leaving him to find the exit on his own. The welcoming party also left much to be desired.

Sometimes he would have help in this realm, although this didn’t seem to be one of those times. He had peered around each corner hoping for a flash of a fluffy tail or a long ear, but was disappointed every time.

But this?

This was new.

Noctis squints at the—spectre?—still unsure of whether the figure was a figment of his arguably lacklustre imagination, or worse—a new trick in their attempts to keep him trapped in this world. His eyes track down the back of the head to where his wrist was enclosed in the other’s hand. He squints at that too. It _feels_ real, at least.

 

 

 

Time passed differently in this world, as he had the privilege of finding out in the few hundred times he’d been here. It was hard to tell how long it’s been, when the sky was a perpetual grey and the time on his phone’s screen frozen at _3:15, Friday_.

Stepping out of school and straight into a maze being hunted down by an iron giant was not how he wanted to spend his weekend.

Turning a corner into another dead end, he throws his hands into the air and resists the urge to slam a fist into the wall.

His phone’s battery wasn’t draining, but fat load of good that does him without reception. The daemons really should do something about that, he _was_ a regular customer after all, and it was the least they could do for how often they brought him here without his permission.

The iron giant that had greeted him at the entrance forced him reluctantly inside, but it was venture deeper or get cleaved messily into two via impure and very big sword. It wasn’t really a choice at all, and anyway he’d been in worse places than a maze.

He can solve a maze.

It was quickly rising to the top of the list though, because as it turns out, he _can’t_ solve a maze, not this one anyway. A three-way fork lay in front of him, and with an “eeny, meeny, miny, moe” muttered under his breath he takes the path straight ahead.

Running and not knowing where the hell he was, was getting tiring fast. The walls blurred together in the same drab colours as the dreary sky, and he found himself backtracking out of dead ends more often than he liked. There was no sense of direction to be had, and it would just be the cherry on top if the daemon managed to trap him in one.

He felt like he had been here for _days_ , probably had, and he dreaded knowing how much time might have passed outside. What he wouldn’t give for a nap right about now. But every time he closes his eyes for a light doze, steps would echo around the corner in minutes. It was vexing, and he swears it was just waiting for him to get comfortable and on the verge of sleep before making itself known for maximum frustration.

Noctis was seriously reconsidering his decision to flee inside instead of taking his chances when he could. Not that he could do anything about it now. He sighs. The sound of screeching metal dragging across the ground from behind the wall he was using as support had him picking up the pace for the umpteenth time where he had slumped into a tired walk—straight into another person.

He startles badly.

“Shit!”

“Woah.”

Or a humanoid creature, at least. He’s still not sure about the guy.

“Noctis, right?”

The youth narrows his eyes. That didn’t mean anything, it’s not like Noctis had made any particular effort to hide his name. There was a curved dagger strapped to the man’s thigh, tattoos on his exposed arms and hands where his sleeves were rolled. If this was an illusion, it was a pretty creative and detailed one. He’ll give them props for innovation in design.

 

 

 

You couldn’t blame him for being suspicious. Not when his previous experiences could be said to be anything savoury. It’s happened before, too many times to count. And some were…interesting, to say the least.

Noctis hadn’t known whether to laugh or cry when he first laid eyes on a particularly memorable one. A wraith getting too creative with its appearance, piecing and stitching together a brand new person from the people most prominent in his memories.

He just thanked his lucky stars that it was dumb.

He had fun watching the horror on his friends’ faces though, when he told them about the disaster that was meshed up facial features and fashion choices it had borrowed from them, the mangled tangle of accents that was its speech pattern. Iris had been cackling in the background. It had her voice.

(He kept his silence about the throbbing cut he received from the imitation of Cor’s katana, but nothing escapes Ignis’s watchful eyes.)

That was one of the better ones, something he could afford to laugh about after it was over. Perfect imitations of his friends falling into step beside him to taunt him about his worthlessness and weakness, picking with deadly precision at his insecurities and chinks in his esteem were the worst.

He didn’t give them the satisfaction of seeing him crack outwardly, but taking the first step into the warded grounds of the Amicitia Manor was like a breath of fresh air. The malicious whispers disappear together with the weight on his shoulders, and accumulated tension would seep out all at once.

Gladio has an uncanny sixth sense for when it happens. He met him at the door, and Noctis tried to smile. It comes out crooked besides his efforts, and his friend only sighs and takes him into his arms, engulfing him fully in a bear hug that comes with his bulk in assurance.

“Y’know the offer is still there right?”

“…Yeah.”

It was better now that he was used to it, but the first time it happened when Noctis was younger had caused an uproar upon the discovery of his absence from the grounds.

Believing what the Wraith told him about how he wasn’t wanted, a burden to those who had custody of him, he had ran away from the Manor, and a search party had been mobilised to recover him. Just thinking about it now makes his cheeks heat.

Gladio and Ignis had made sure he was always accompanied on the walk to and from school after that fiasco. It continued for a couple years until he felt guilty about taking up all their time when they were in different schools, putting on a brave front and telling them he would be okay now on his own. They told him they didn’t mind, made sure he knew all he had to do was ask if he needed it, but he put his foot down.

They worried, of course. They never stopped worrying. His magic grew with age, and with it came the interest of more malevolent daemons. But it helped that he had started training in using his abilities, and knowing he had some way to defend himself assuaged their worries, if just a little.

 

 

 

“Your friends are worried sick about you.” For a brief moment Noctis was convinced he was a mind reader. But it certainly didn’t sound like the usual thing a Wraith would say. It was _nice_. …Or it was _acting_ nice. Noctis hums in dubious contemplation.

“Uh-huh?” He hedges, trying to see if he could pry more information out of the other without seeming too obvious.

“Come now, don’t be so suspicious. I’m a friend of Amicitia’s—or well, acquaintance—we’ve fought together a couple times before. He asked me to come get you.” Noctis wonders for a brief moment which Amicitia he was referring to, before striking pale blue eyes flickers back to peruse him in a side-glance. “You’ve been missing for a week.”

Damn, that was longer than he had expected. Luckily, he had taken to carrying around granola bars in his pocket, and a bottle of water Prompto had foisted off on him because they were “selling two at a discount!” in addition to his own. He might not have food urges in this world, but it didn’t mean his body didn’t still have the same limitations.

His head kept tilting up compulsively to check the position of a sun that wasn’t there, and while he still couldn’t tell time with the unchanging sky, he estimates a few hours over a day. What he did know, however, was that the chances of this being a trick had gone down exponentially, but Noctis had learnt not to trust easily.

Gladio was always harping on his lack of self-preservation, he should be proud. And approve.

“Why would he ask you?”

“Other than the fact that I can find anything? Nothing much,” mirth twinkled in his eyes. “That includes wayward teenagers, Alice.”

_Alice?_ Noctis frowns. “You sure you know the way out?” Scepticism was clear in his voice.

“Sure I do. We just follow the yellow brick road.”

“You’re mixing up your references,” Noctis says, but his eyes stray absently down.

He stares, and yellow stares back at him. What the—when did _that_ happen? He could’ve sworn it wasn’t that colour before.

Follow the yellow brick road, he said. Noctis glances around as they took a right in the next fork. _The ground everywhere was yellow._

“…I’m not sure I should be following you,” the youth starts slowly. Dark eyes were trailed on the path they just treaded behind them, and he watches as the left turn that had been abandoned in favour of the right faded from yellow into solid stone. A roar reverberated around them, and boy did it sound angry. “What do you mean ‘find anything’? Like, lost cats in the neighbourhood?”

“Found ya, didn’t I?”

…Did he just call him a lost pet? Ugh, whatever. Wouldn’t be the first time he heard that one, and he practically set himself up for it. Regardless, simply having someone else here with him alone was heartening. And made the place a lot less lonely to be in. Maybe a little brighter. It was nice to have somebody else leading the way too, a definite step up from his directionless bumbling around.

Some of the uneasy knots in his stomach loosened, and Noctis looks at the ground again. It was still an obnoxious yellow. It might not necessarily be brick, but it was definitely yellow.

Actually, the ground could be fucking pink and he might not have noticed. That happens when you’re running for your life, away from a sword-wielding creature more than three times your size, whose sword was also three times your size.

But now that it was pointed out to him, it was all he could see. Who decorated this place, the interior design was terrible. The colours were clashing all over the place.

“Trust me, I’m the wizard.”

“Oz?”

“No,” the self-proclaimed wizard says slowly, looking scandalised like Noctis had just insulted his ancestors. That, or he must’ve really taken offense at being compared to a humbug. “The Grey,” he offers graciously.

Noctis barely manages to keep from rolling his eyes. This guy is nuts.

(Later, when he’s introduced to Crowe, she assures him “he’s really only like that because of the movie marathon we had the day before.” She didn't look like she believed what she was saying.)

The ground was almost glowing with the steadily brightening yellow now. The walls surrounding them looked noticeably different too, less foreboding towering greyness and more vines draped over chipped worn surfaces, but the paint coats started getting fresher. He caught hints of overlapping images when he looked closer, and Noctis did a double take when they brisked passed a poster promoting a band concert visiting Insomnia the next month. It disappears on his next blink.

Okay, so maybe he does know where he’s going. They at least haven’t come up on a dead end. Yet.

He’s still alive too, that’s a plus. The Grey could still be leading him to a trap, but Noctis doubts it. For the first time since he came in, he feels like he’s finally going to be able to get out of this place. His muscles seem to forget some of its tiredness.

Despite his better judgment, he looks behind involuntarily. It was probably what saved their lives.

He swears violently, and the wizard startles in front of him.

“Move!!” Noctis wrenches his hand out of his grip before the word fully leaves his mouth and shoves the older man into the next corner, just as a sword taller and thicker than he was slams into the ground they had just been standing on, the impact creating a shockwave that sends them sprawling further.

Picking his head off the ground, the self-proclaimed wizard stares at the crater where they had been. “That’s not good.” No shit. “Up, up!”

His guide grasped the arm of a disoriented Noctis, and forces him to his feet. A clatter attracts their attention, and both look down to see Noctis’s phone spin towards the iron giant.

“Run!”

Noctis doesn’t hesitate to follow the order, but he takes a moment to mourn the loss of his phone. Because man, how many shifts would it take to replace that? Not that it would matter if they didn’t get out of this pinch first.

They skid around the next bend, and narrowly avoided a tangle of limbs. The older man took turns without hesitation, but Noctis noticed they hadn’t seen a branch in the path for some time now. “We’re almost there!” He says, confirming Noctis’s suspicions about their current position. But the smooth progress thus far made him feel uneasy.

True enough, black oozed out from the yellow, and Noctis blanches as a thick purple hand reached slowly, deliberately, out. It wasn’t long before a second iron giant stood sentry to their exit, presence foreboding.

The older man whistles.

“Damn, my luck’s not usually this bad.”

“Sorry, that’s probably all me.”

They screech to a halt, and the man deftly unsheathes his daggers in a smooth movement, Noctis only now noticing the second one he had under his coat. His head swivels to keep both daemons within sight, and the sword knots attached to the blades clacked softly in time to the steps of the daemon following behind them.

“Hey, maybe tell me your name just in case we’re buried here together. I wanna know who I’m sharing grave space with.”

“Call me Nyx. I’d say it’s an honour, but have some faith. This isn’t my first jam.” He winks.

Noctis has no doubt he’s able to use those weapons proficiently, recognises the lethal poise he holds himself with, experience in his stance. But there were two iron giants, as if one wasn’t bad enough. The odds were pretty terrible.

“Keep an eye on that one.” Nyx jerks his head in the direction of the daemon blocking their way out.

“Wha—are you out of your mind?! You can’t take it alone!”

“Don’t worry so much. Have some faith,” he says again, flipping a dagger in his left hand and bowling through the protests of the flustering boy. The iron giant blocking their way towers menacingly, full height drawing even with the top of the walls. “He’s not so tough.”

Noctis goggles at him. Yeah, this guy was absolutely nuts.

Nyx spins on his heels, daggers held expertly in front of him, and smirks something smug and cheeky. “You shall not—”

Noctis didn’t bother hiding the eye roll this time.

“Yeah ok, no, Gandalf. No dragon-slaying today.” Noctis doesn’t give the other time for a smartass remark. Swiping a dagger from the nearest hand, he ignores the quip of _“Hey!_ _Do you even know how to use that?”_ closes his eyes and focuses on the blade. Binding himself alone was difficult enough without an added passenger, but he was going to try.

He did come in to get him after all. It was the least he could do to repay the guy. This would make them even.

Now that he thought about it, Noctis figures it’s just his way of trying to keep him calm, inserting familiarity and easy banter to cancel out some of the bleakness—not that he needed it, but grudgingly he admits it was working. Nyx might be an experienced fighter, but avoiding unnecessary battles when able was always smarter.

“Alice, I’m not sure this is the right time to be taking a nap.”

“Shush, lemme focus.”

He had gotten the hang of it about a year ago, after an absurd amount of practising for the years before that. There were other tricks up his sleeve, but those required more… _more_ , and he’s not sure if his body can hold out long enough to finish off something as immense as an iron giant. Or two. Not when the most he’s tried it out on was a goblin.

How this works was pretty much a mystery to Noctis himself, he went on instinct, and the feeling was impossible to put it into words. Ignis could probably do it—Noctis thought he could do anything. Now, he focused on searching out for the tendrils of reality unique to the dagger.

Exhaustion ran deep in his bones, aching with the endless walking and running he had been doing. Trying magic when he was tired wasn’t a good idea, was a terrible idea, but freedom was _just_ out of reach and incredibly tantalising.

“Uh, anytime now would be great.”

Noctis ignores the snippy words. The ground vibrated with each heavy step taken in their direction—the distance between them would be closed in seconds. But this was delicate work, and if he didn’t do it right, well.

It was either become minced meat under a giant foot or erasing their existences from both worlds altogether.

Neither seemed very appealing.

He opens his eyes again, and calculates the distance between them and the unmoving iron giant. He would have preferred them to be a little closer for this, but they couldn’t take the chance. Grabbing ahold of Nyx’s hand in his left, he meets a curious stare and decides to be generous. “You might wanna brace yourself for this.”

Noctis takes a deep breath, throws the blade, and warps.

The first throw has them landing a few paces away from the second daemon. It jerks back, but quickly raises its sword in preparation for a swing. Noctis was faster, a second throw through the gap between its body and the wall had them disappearing and reappearing on the other side in a shower of sparks. He warps them a third, a fourth time just to be sure.

As soon as they’re clear, Noctis falls to his knees, breathing heavily. That was _rough_. Bringing someone along for the ride was tiring, not to mention consecutive warps of long distances. That took more magic that he thought it would, but he didn’t think he did too bad for a first try. And they still exist! That’s totally a win.

But he’s going to lay off taking passengers for a while.

“That was _sick_ ,” Nyx said. Then, “ooh, I think I might be too.”

Noctis glances at him through his bangs.

He sure didn’t look it. There was a wide grin on his face.

“A little more warning next time?”

Noctis laughs breathlessly. “Next time?”

Nyx shrugs. “It was pretty cool, once you get pass the feeling of being rearranged. Three out of three will do again. It’s more interesting than walking.”

“I’ll take a rain check on that.” Where did Gladio even find this guy?

An angry bellow close behind reminds them to get their asses moving. Nyx sheathes his dagger, and crouches beside him.

“Can you stand? Just a few steps more.”

Noctis looks ahead, and sees where yellow brick blends seamlessly into concrete. Being this close to the material world was already making him feel the familiar light-headedness. That or he had drained too much magic too fast. He had overcompensated for the amount of magic he needed to warp the two of them, but it was better than accidentally erasing or leaving a part of them behind.

“Yeah, yeah I can make it.”

He takes the proffered hand, and a strong arm comes around his shoulders to steady him when he tilts dangerously to the side.

Gladiolus and Ignis were there when they stumbled forward, relief painting their faces when they appeared. There were unfamiliar faces next to them waiting there too, but Noctis had zoomed in on his friends in the sudden dark of the night eclipsing the contrasting brightness they left behind.

“Hey guys.”

He raises a hand to wave, and passes out instead.

***

(In an upside down world, he chases a tiny iron giant in vindictive glee, a fox-like creature at his side.)

***

He wakes to the rustle of pages, and his lips twitch into a smile.

“Gladio,” Noctis says without opening his eyes.

Gladiolus pauses midway through a page flip. “Noct?” He tries, unsure if he’s still asleep.

“Yeah?” Astrals, was that his voice? The sound of a chair clattering back catches his attention, and when he blinks his eyes open, a straw is at his mouth.

He drinks greedily—water had never tasted so good—and moans in protest when it’s taken away. “Nuh-uh. Y’know the drill,” Gladio ruffles his hair. “Hell, you had us worried sick, princess.”

Noctis pushes himself up a little, and rolls over to face Gladio. Oh how he’s missed his bed. He’s never going to leave it again, not for the next twenty-four hours at _least_. And then some more. He just wants to sleep for a month.

“Ignis?”

“You just missed him. He crashed out a few minutes ago.” Noctis cranes his neck to look at his desk where at least three cans of Ebony were lined up. “He wanted to wait for you to wake up, check on you before he did, but he hadn’t gotten much sleep the past few days.” He falls back onto his pillow, and looks at Gladio instead, studying the circles under his eyes and the tired slump of his shoulders. Ignis wasn’t the only one who needed sleep.

“You look like shit, and I'm the one who got chased around in a maze for two days.”

“A _week_.”

There was a flick to his forehead when he protested, “I was lost!” He pouts, and rubs the reddening spot. Also, it’s not like he could tell time in there. He groans when that reminded him of his lost phone. “So I heard. Oh yeah, where’d you find Gan—Nyx, anyway?”

He still didn’t know much about the guy, other than his maze solving abilities, fights with daggers and that he spouts a lot of movie references in times of danger. He’s still curious what he meant by being able to ‘find anything’.

“Ulric?” Gladiolus lifts a brow at his trip-up, but hands him a bowl of lukewarm soup when he sits up. “We’re tied at the moment, but maybe I’ll let him take the next one for yesterday.”

“I didn’t understand any of that.” Gladio laughs at his cluelessness. Rude.

“He’s part of an order the Citadel kinda has a rivalry with,” Noctis raises his brows at that. He might have heard Gladio griping about it before. But he gripes about a lot of things, so he’s not sure. Noctis slurps at his spoon. “They steal our business.”

“What?”

“You know how Meldacio puts out bounties on certain daemons rampaging round different parts?” Noctis nods in response to the question. “We bumped into each other tracking down the same one a few times.”

“And the tally?”

“Like I said, we’re tied right now. We couldn’t decide who landed the final blow on the last one, so we had a match for it.”

“And?” Noctis presses.

Gladio gives him the evil eye, and grunts. “He got it.” A vein twitches on his temple at the raucous laughter emitting from the bed. “ _Only_ because he got lucky!”

The teenager tried unsuccessfully to suppress the sniggers, swiping a tear from his eye. “I think there’s a story you’re not telling me.”

“And never will,” Gladio grumbles a “that luck is _not_ _natural_ ” and he dissolves into another fit of giggles, threatening to overturn his bowl. “Shut up and eat your soup.”

“Yes, Mom.”

“Brat,” it came out ridiculously fond. “You might wanna prepare yourself for some real mothering when Ignis wakes up.”

“ _Yes_ , food that isn’t granola bars or soup.” Gladio glowers at him in a _see if I ever cook for you again_ and it takes an enormous effort not to start laughing all over. “Kidding! If only he stopped with the vegetables.” He thinks of carrots, and sticks his tongue out in disgust.

“You gotta grow out of that pickiness someday. It’s good for you.”

“That day is not today. Also it’s too late for a lecture,” he finishes the last of his soup and deposits the bowl on his nightstand. “Goodnight, Gladio.”

“It’s nine in the morning.”

“Shoo, go sleep. I know I am. For the next week or so.”

“I'm holding your weekend right here.” Gladio shakes a pile of papers at him. “Homework, courtesy of Prompto.” Noctis groans.

“You’re _evil_.”

His friend shrugs at him, smirking. “Scoot over.”

“Your room is literally _next door_.”

“Where do you think Iggy is right now?” Gladio doesn’t wait for him to move, manhandling him to make space.

“Are you kidding me? How old do you think we are? My bed is not big enough for this.” It creaks ominously as his friend made himself comfortable. “I’m falling off, and it’s hot.”

“Quit whining. Iris is gonna get out of school early,” which boded even worse for his bed. He needed to get a bigger one. Having more space to sprawl wouldn't hurt either.

Contrary to what he said, he wasn’t opposed to it at all. Waking up sandwiched between the Amicitia siblings wasn’t the worst way to. He’s not kidding about the bed though, he won’t be surprised if he wakes dropped on the floor from its legs breaking.

They’d crashed on the same bed all the time when they were younger, usually Gladio’s, when Noctis had first moved in. It had been some time since they all shared a bed though. Noctis’s gaze flickers briefly to the scar over Gladio’s left eye.

“Sleep,” Gladio orders, and Noctis doesn’t object. It _was_ his favourite pastime after fishing, and he could tell he really worried them this time. Despite his complaints about the heat, he squirms closer under the arm Gladio draped over his shoulders. The safety he associated with the Manor and Gladio lulls him deeper into slumber.

“Night,” he greets again, but doesn’t hear the rumbling answer he gets back as he drops off.

***

“That wasn’t your first time in there, was it?”

“Was, actually. Why?”

Nyx pauses to look at him, catching his kukri mid-twirl. Noctis was still in bed when he visited, less because he was confined to bed rest, and more because he’s not willing to get out yet. He thinks he’s done enough exercise for a month. His sleep is totally well deserved.

Also, nothing beats Ignis’s breakfast in bed.

Gladiolus almost didn’t let him in, but does on the account that he did help find Noctis a couple days before. Gladio never did tell him why he had asked for his help specifically, and Noctis was inherently curious.

“What?! That doesn’t explain how you knew the way out.”

“I didn’t. Was actually winging it the whole way.” Noctis gapes at him. Nyx started twirling his dagger again, unaffected by his silent staring. He really hadn’t known, to be honest. Decisions as they happened upon forks were made on the spot, but he was an expert at pretending he knew what he was doing.

Plus, he trusted his luck to take him where he needed to go.

Noctis wants to throw his pillow at him. He couldn’t believe he almost thought this guy was legit. Ok, he _did_ think so the past day. He feels _cheated_. Give him back his wasted feelings of admiration.

“Hey, my luck’s just that good,” Nyx continues when no reply was forthcoming. It sounds like a joke, and this time Noctis really did hurl a pillow at him. It smacks him square in the shoulder, is promptly stolen and propped against the back of his chair to lean against.

“If you hurt it, you’re getting me a new one.”

Nyx holds out his hands in surrender, and sheathes the blade. “So,” he starts conversationally, “get yourself kidnapped often?”

“Wow, what gave you the first clue?”

“No need to get snarky.”

Noctis sighs, “…kind of?” He answers in reply to the question, dragging his other pillow to his chest and rests his chin on top of it. “It’s complicated.” He blinks down at his sheets where he sat cross-legged. “I don’t really know how to explain it, but yeah, you can say that. I could go into a convenience store and come out in a forest.”

“Huh.”

“Something about my magic? Being desirable? Yummy?” He gets a raised brow for that one. “Gladio calls me daemon-bait. Sometimes gods. I ‘unno.”

"Wait, did you just say—"

"Yeah."

"You're kidding."

"I wish. Just ask Gladio. He might have talked to Shiva before."

"Shi—" Nyx slumps against the pillow he had appropriated and tilts his head back to face the ceiling. "And I thought I was crazy."

“You _are_.”

“Touché.”

Noctis studies him, and voices the question he wanted to ask since Nyx stepped through the door. “How did _you_ get there?”

“That’s classified information, Alice. Can’t have business rivals knowing our trade secrets.”

Nyx looks back down, and comes face-to-face with a devastating pout and puppy eyes. He was just teasing but dammit, that’s the face of a teenager who knew how to use those baby blues to get what he wanted.

“Ugh, that should be illegal,” he grumbles, and snorts when the pout shifts into a bright smile. “You could’ve just asked Amicitia, you know. It’s not really a secret.”

“Well, you’re here now.” Nyx sighs at him.

“You’re brought to the other side without knowing? It’s the opposite in my case.”

“You know you’re getting kidnapped?”

“What, no. I can get in on my own.” Noctis’s eyes were disbelieving, two narrow slits in a deadpan. “Don’t give me that look. I didn’t end up in that maze by accident. Amicitia asked me for a reason. I can cross the borders, yeah, but more importantly, I can get out.”

“So can I,” Noctis sulks back mulishly. He just needed time.

“Weren’t doing such a good job of it when I found you though.” That comment earns him a glare, but the pillow in his arms and bedhead just made him look like a disgruntled kitten. “Ok, let’s say you can—” he ignores the ‘ _I do!_ ’ “—but I can do it _faster_. You were in there for a week, kid. That’s not a healthy amount of time to spend in another world where you don’t belong.”

“Tell that to the things that keep taking me there.”

Noctis wanted to ask more, but Nyx stands to leave after checking his buzzing phone.

“Class is up, work’s calling.” And Noctis wanted to ask about that too, but his pillow is returned to his bed and his hair ruffled before he could. “Take care, kid. Try not to go missing again for a week.”

It sounded like a goodbye, and Noctis starts. “Thanks! For getting me out,” he hastens to say when he remembers he hasn’t.

“No problem. Oh yeah,” Nyx pauses in the doorway, saying it like an afterthought, “here.” Something was thrown toward him, and he catches it reflexively.

“What the—” He stares at it. “Is this—my _phone_?” His voice is incredulous. The battery was dead, but other than a new hairline crack on the corner of his screen and a few new chips in the casing, it looked functional.

“Told ya didn’t I?” Nyx reiterates with a smirk. “I can find anything.”

 

 

-

“When you said ‘fought’, I didn’t think you meant it _literally_."

“Hey, what can I say? ‘S not my fault he’s jealous of my good looks and charm.”

“…Outside. Now, Ulric.”

“Hoo boy.”

**Author's Note:**

> Some things I couldn’t get across properly:
> 
> Warping is a little different here, it’s kinda like bending reality, which Noctis’s abilities have more to do with than in the original ffxv verse. It's more related to the ring abilities? Don’t think it really got across, but honestly I haven’t figured it all out yet either. Nyx’s luck is also supposed to be obscenely good. Like a superpower or something.
> 
> Sometimes when he gets lost inside, Carbuncle shows up to help, so Noctis is a little dependent on him. Usually, it'd show up in cases like these when he’s been stuck in there for some time, but something about the maze prevented it from doing so. Couldn’t find a way to explain that though. And the part in the convo with Nyx at the end where Shiva comes out: possession is kind of a thing.
> 
> Actually, there's a lot of unexplained things period. I'm sorry orz ~~There were a lot of hints of other things being alluded to, that I may expand on~~
> 
> Isn’t the first fic I wrote, but the first I finished. Mostly written last year with a lot of edits. It’s hard being the most indecisive person on the planet.
> 
> Noctis is about 18 here? I think. Also Amicitia sandwich!! For platonic sleep reasons!! Sorry Nyx also didn’t get to show off much. I’m going to go hide in a hole now. Thanks for reading!


End file.
